Tell the USDA to End Cruelty to Turkeys

According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), about 250 million turkeys are subjected to cruelty and suffering every year. That's because under current legislation, poultry producers aren't required to use humane slaughter methods.

Factory farmed turkeys are killed in the most horrific ways possible. Many are shackled and hung upside down, electrically shocked and paralyzed, and still completely conscious as they get their throats cut or are thrown in scalding hot water. Despite the cruelty invoved in this process, it's still perfectly legal to slaughter birds this way because poultry are excluded from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.

Thanksgiving dinners shouldn't come at the expense of tortured birds. If turkeys were covered by the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, producers would need to ensure that birds are unconscious or insensible to pain before they're killed. Sign our petition telling the USDA to include poultry in its interpretation of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Letter to

Deputy Secretary of Agriculture/USDAKathleen Merrigan

Secretary of Agriculture/USDATom Vilsack

Press Officer/USDA FSISNeil Gaffney

According to the Humane Society of the United States, more than 250 million turkeys are subjected to cruelty and torture every year. This doesn't have to be the case.

Many turkey producers kill birds by shackling them, electrically shocking them into paralysis, and then slitting their throats and throwing them into scalding hot water while turkeys are still conscious. Producers can legally use this method of slaughter because poultry are not included in the USDA's Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. If turkeys and chickens were covered by this Act, producers would need to ensure that birds are unconscious or insensible to pain before they're killed.

Thanksgiving dinners shouldn't come at the expense of tortured turkeys. Please include poultry in your interpretation of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.